The foot traffic surpassed that of a busy, summer Saturday night downtown, and crowds moved in intervals. Every half hour between 5 and 8 p.m., Breakout released the coordinates of two to three $100 bills and participants raced to get there first.

A man runs to try to find a cash prize during the Breakout Greenville Treasure Hunt in downtown Greenville on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018. Breakout hid $2,000 in cash throughout the city for people to find. JOSH MORGAN/Staff

More than 1,000 people participated in the Breakout Greenville Treasure Hunt in downtown Greenville on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018. Breakout hid $2,000 in cash throughout the city for people to find. JOSH MORGAN/Staff

More than 1,000 people participated in the Breakout Greenville Treasure Hunt in downtown Greenville on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018. Breakout hid $2,000 in cash throughout the city for people to find. JOSH MORGAN/Staff

More than 1,000 people participated in the Breakout Greenville Treasure Hunt in downtown Greenville on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018. Breakout hid $2,000 in cash throughout the city for people to find. JOSH MORGAN/Staff

More than 1,000 people participated in the Breakout Greenville Treasure Hunt in downtown Greenville on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018. Breakout hid $2,000 in cash throughout the city for people to find. JOSH MORGAN/Staff

More than 1,000 people participated in the Breakout Greenville Treasure Hunt in downtown Greenville on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018. Breakout hid $2,000 in cash throughout the city for people to find. JOSH MORGAN/Staff

More than 1,000 people participated in the Breakout Greenville Treasure Hunt in downtown Greenville on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018. Breakout hid $2,000 in cash throughout the city for people to find. JOSH MORGAN/Staff

More than 1,000 people participated in the Breakout Greenville Treasure Hunt in downtown Greenville on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018. Breakout hid $2,000 in cash throughout the city for people to find. JOSH MORGAN/Staff

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Breakout employees wearing branded T-shirts and holding red balloons were stationed near each destination to assure scavengers they were in the right area. But the gatekeepers were also used to create a distraction.

Kari Thompson, of Simpsonville, said she was told by a Breakout employee that she was right to think they were a distraction.

"He said it's just a distraction, that you can follow (the employees with the balloons) if you want to, but they're basically just walking around, you're just going to get tired, which is what's happening to me," she said.

Just after 6 p.m., hoards of people were rummaging through bushes and tearing away tree branches in front of the Peace Center.

One scavenger said the money wasn't in plain sight. Even with location coordinates and gatekeepers nearby, participants still had to hunt for the cash.

"All the plants are destroyed, like definitely destroyed," Shane Rivera said about the Peace Center Plaza, where at least one prize was found. "Someone was like knees in it, like dirt everywhere on her, just digging in there," he added with a laugh.

In total, $2,000 were found in the Breakout Greenville Treasure Hunt. Ben Broadwater, of Mauldin, was one of the lucky winners. He was downtown with his wife, son, brother and sister-in-law. He said he and his brother ran down to a corner of Falls Park and found a brown Breakout envelope in the root system of a tree there.

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Ben Broadwater holds his voucher for a $100 prize, which he found in Falls Park during the Breakout Greenville Scavenger Hunt in downtown Aug. 7, 2018.(Photo: Lauren Young/STAFF)

"We were all together, all of us searched each coordinate and we just went to the closest one," he explained. "We were like one of the first ones there looking around for it ... (the gatekeepers) were like 100 feet away."

But the night wasn't without hiccups. Around 7 p.m., Breakout's website crashed. The group sent a text to participants saying they would release coordinates on Facebook instead, but the site was back up within 30 minutes.

Another text sent out at 8:07 p.m. announced that the hunt was over: "Thanks to everyone who participated in our largest treasure hunt of the summer!"

Police officers were stationed along Main Street to keep the chaos under control.

As of 7:30 p.m., Greenville Police spokesman Donald Porter said there were no injuries reported or arrests made in relation to the event.

Catherine Rogers and Anna B. Mitchell contributed to this report.

And that's a WRAP! Greenville, way to come out and play! The largest treasure hunt of the summer, this was a GREAT turn out! We hope everyone had a great time escaping ordinary! 🎉#breakouthunt